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WILL YOUR BENEFICIARIES INHERIT EQUALLY?

Is it ever OK to leave your children unequal inheritances?  On the face of it it may make perfect sense if you have one child who is financially secure, with a high-flying career and earning a six-figure salary.  However, circumstances change and this is yet another example of when people decide to predict the future when drawing up their wills and feel that they know exactly what the circumstances are going to be for everyone involved at the point when they pass away. Sometimes i...

LOOKING AFTER YOUR DIGITAL LEGACY

Whether we have a Will in place or not I think most of us understand their importance.  But what about your digital assets ...?  Closing down your online life could be one of the hardest things your family has to do once you're gone.  Where should they start? Most digital assets will pass via the main Will that covers the majority of assets, but knowledge of online accounts and how to access them is probably best dealt with via a separate document which can be stored safely a...

5 common mistakes to avoid when preparing LPAs

Nearly 30,000 Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) applications were rejected by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) in 2022-23 due to mistakes.6 in 10 rejected documents were LPAs for property and financial affairs.An LPA is a legal document where one person (the donor) gives another person the right to make decisions on their behalf on an ongoing basis.A Lasting Power of Attorney is the most common arrangement in England and Wales, and there are two types:Property and financial affairs, which ...

DOES MY PROPERTY NEED TO BE CONSIDERED WHEN ASSESSING MY FINANCIAL STATUS FOR PAYING CARE FEES?

One of the key concerns many clients have at the moment is losing their property to pay for care costs, especially if there are people still living in the home - whether that be spouse or children.For the purposes of this blog we will just concentrate on the property and ignore any other income or capital owned by the person. That can be a post for another day!Whether or not a person has to pay for care relates to their capital when the local authority does a financial assessment. Capital is wid...

MY WIFE AND I ARE TENANTS IN COMMON - WHAT HAPPENS TO THE HOUSE WHEN ONE OF US DIES?

When you are tenants in common (TIC) and one of you dies, the deceased owner's share passes in accordance with his or her will.  When you are joint tenants, the survivor becomes the sole owner and the whole property will eventually pass under his or her will.If you do wish the surviving spouse to own the whole property after the first death, you can apply to move the restriction or change your wills.When you are joint tenants, in the eyes of the law you are one owner.  This means that ...

WHAT THE ROYALS CAN TEACH US ABOUT DEATH

I don't think there will be many of us that weren't affected by the death of Queen Elizabeth II.  It is at moments like this that we all remember loved ones that we have lost.  That dash to a bedside at a hospital to say a final goodbye, or that hollow knock on the door to tell you that someone had been taken too soon.What comes after these moments can often have a profound effect on how we grieve, shaping the rest of our lives.The death of the Queen has been one of the most planned-fo...

TRUST REGISTRATION SERVICE

From 1 September 2022 it will become necessary for trustees to comply with their registration obligations under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017.  This requires the lead trustee of the majority of trusts, or nominated agent, to register the beneficial ownership of their trusts with HMRC. Most trusts will require registration although there are exceptions that will not ie Pension scheme and death benefit trustsLife Assurance Trusts that re...

DON'T PUT OFF THAT AWKWARD CHAT ABOUT INHERITANCE!

It can be a shock for people to discover, only on the death of their parents, that they have effectively been disinherited and it can seem like the ultimate cruel shock.  Often there is no obvious reason why the decision was taken which makes it even more difficult for potential beneficiaries to understand. The UK is different from many other countries in that you are allowed to die with millions in the bank and not give a penny to your child.  In France, by law, you have to give your ...

DELAYS ADD TO THE PAIN OF GETTING POWER OF ATTORNEY

Delays and complications mean that it is taking up to 20 weeks to set up powers of attorney. The process is lengthy and can be hard to navigate, and families often have their applications rejected. There is hope, however, that the system for granting lasting powers of attorney is about to become easier. The government says that the system needs updating, and the Ministry of Justice and Office of Public Guardian (OPG) are speaking to banks and legal firms to find ways to make the process better. ...

WHERE THERE'S A WILL AND A COUPLE OF MARRIAGES, THINGS GET COMPLICATED

With blended families on the rise, so are inheritance rows.  Blended families are those where people have multiple marriages and children with different partners, meaning step-parents, stepchildren, divorced parents and siblings with large age gaps are all part of the family setup. These disputes are on the rise.  In 2020 there were 192 cases taken to the High Court by individuals claiming to be entitled to part of an estate.  This was up 50% from the 128 heard just 2 years previo...

CHALLENGING A WILL

The latest data from the Ministry of Justice shows that Will disputes are rising.  A Will can be challenged on the basis that it is invalid for any of the following reasons: The Will has not been correctly executed - Normally a Will must be in writing (handwritten or otherwise) and must be signed by the person making the Will in the presence of two witnesses. It must then be signed by the two witnesses, in the presence of the person making the Will, after she or he has signed. As a con...

FLEXIBLE LIFE INTEREST WILLS AND TRUSTS

The use of trusts is becoming more familiar in estate planning but - are all trusts equal? One of the more common trusts is a Flexible Life Interest Trust which we don't actually offer. When clients tell me that they already have a trust, or they can get the same thing cheaper elsewhere, a little bit of digging usually informs me that this just isn't the case. What they have, or are being offered, is not the same type of trust at all and does not give anywhere near the level of protection that w...

FUNDING OF LONG TERM CARE

When families are faced with a loved one needing long term care they are usually highly emotional, extremely stressed and feeling quite vulnerable.  Those feelings are often compounded by the way they are treated by the systems they face to secure care; those involved in the processes; and also a lack of accurate information by the health-care professionals involved.  At these times families need help and support more than ever before! Unfortunately many legal and financial p...

HOW TO SIGN YOUR WILL CORRECTLY

Your will contains instructions about who should benefit from your estate in the event of your death, including any gifts you want to make to loved ones or charity.It can name who should be guardians of your children, and who should look after your pets.A will becomes legally binding when you have signed it with two or more witnesses.  Under emergency legislation the witnesses do not need to be physically present: witnessing via online video chats is currently allowed although we wouldn't r...

DAD WANTED US TO INHERIT £300k. ALL WE GOT WAS HIS OLD TIE

Extended families and inheritance can be a toxic brew, particularly if mirror wills are involved.Mirror wills are commonly used by married couples who intend to leave everything to each other, and then apportion wealth to their children when the other dies.  They are also useful for second marriages, where the parents wish to leave money to their children and stepchildren, so that no one is left out because of a new relationship.However, mirror wills are not binding and can lawfully be chan...

CROSS OPTION AGREEMENTS

Cross Option Agreements are sometimes also referred to as Double Option Agreements or Company Wills.  Their purpose is to grant options to each party on the death of a shareholder ie the deceased's 'estate' and the continuing shareholder(s).   Just leaving a legacy of the shares to the co-shareholders in a Will could result in the family missing out, whereas leaving the shares to the deceased's family in the Will could result in both the family and the co-shareholders missing out!...

The importance of a Business Lasting Power of Attorney

Have you considered what would happen to your business if you weren’t able to manage its affairs? Putting a Business Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in place is just one way to make sure your day to day business can continue if you were to lose capacity, even for a temporary period of time.Just like a Lasting Power of Attorney for your personal affairs, whether that be for Property and Finance or Health and Welfare, an LPA for your business allows decisions to be made on your behalf by a...

A WILL OR ESTATE PLANNING - WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

A will is an important but simple legal document that dictates who receives what from your assets when you die, ensuring that the right money goes to the right people, at the right time. Estate planning is so much more. It's about protecting you and your beneficiaries for generations to come, from the unpredictable risks that can and all too frequently do occur, such as Care Fees, Inheritance Tax, Divorce, and Relationship Breakdowns. Protecting yourself and your family from all these scenarios ...

IT'S NO GOOD HAVING A WILL IN PLACE IF NO-ONE KNOWS WHERE TO FIND IT

Following on from recently recording a Zoom video chat with a lovely business friend of mine, Allison Dore of Hello Friday Virtual Business Support, I thought it was worth doing a short post identifying some hints and tips for keeping your Wills safe:   The best option is to have it professionally stored, off-site, to prevent against flood or fire but make sure your Executor and/or family know who to contact.  There is usually a small annual fee for this service.If it is to be sto...

WAITING TOO LONG TO HELP OLDER FAMILY MEMBERS WITH THEIR FINANCES CAN BE DISASTROUS!!

Spotting someone's mental frailty is often much harder to recognise than physical frailty. I think we all know that many more people are dealing with mental health issues at the moment and the pandemic and loss of normal routine has meant that the mental health of people has deteriorated even more quickly - 82% of carers of people with dementia have said that their condition has become worse during the pandemic (source Alzheimer's Society). This is being played on by scammers and fraudsters...